LOW-COST DUAL-POLARIZED MICROWAVE AND MILLIMETER WAVE ANTENNA DESIGNS

MONOPULSE ANTENNAS ARE COMPLEX AND EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO FREQUENCY, TEMPERATURE AND ENVIRONMENT AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCIES AND EVEN MORE SO AT MILLIMETER WAVES. ADDING A DUAL-POLARIZATION REQUIREMENT GREATLY INCREASES THE COMPLEXITY OF THE WHOLE MONOPULSE ASSEMBLY SINCE THE MONOPULSE COMBINING NETWORK MUST THEN HAVE SIX PORTS (SIGMA[V], DELTA E[V], DELTA H[V], SIGMA[H], DELTA E[H], DELTA H[H]) AS COMPARED TO THE SINGLE POLARIZED CIRCUIT WHICH HAS ONLY THREE PORTS. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MONOPULSE CIRCUIT IS CONSIDERABLY REDUCED WHEN THE DUAL-POLARIZATION FORMING NETWORK IS REMOVED FROM THE COMPARATOR COMBINING NETWORK. MILLITECH PROPOSES TO SEPARATE THE POLARIZATION FORM-ING NETWORK USING GAUSSIAN OPTICS TECHNIQUES. MILLITECH ALSO PROPOSESTO INVESTIGATE PLANAR FEED DEVICES TO REDUCE THE OVERALL SIZE AND COMPLEXITY OF THE MONOPULSE CIRCUITRY AND THUS ALLOW DUAL POLARIZED MONOPULSE ANTENNAS TO BE EASILY PRODUCED AT LOW COST.